Chandel, October 16: In a strong display of opposition, fourteen village chiefs from Manipur’s Chandel district, along the Indo-Myanmar border, have jointly declared their resistance to the ongoing border fencing project, warning that no construction activities will be permitted within their respective jurisdictions.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the chiefs expressed deep concern over the demarcation and fencing works currently being carried out along the Indo-Myanmar frontier, stating that such activities have created widespread anxiety among local residents. They cautioned that the fencing could have far-reaching implications on the land, identity, and communal integrity of the border population.
“After thorough deliberation, we have unanimously resolved to oppose and prohibit any continuation of the fencing project within our jurisdictions,” the statement read. The chiefs further warned that if the Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) or any concerned authority continued the construction despite their objections, they “will not be held responsible for any consequences that may follow.”
The border leaders have also called upon the government and relevant agencies to immediately suspend all construction-related activities until the demand for a Separate Administration for the Kuki-Zo people is addressed. The demand, a longstanding political issue, has been central to ongoing debates over governance and identity among Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur’s hill districts.
The unified stance by the border village chiefs underscores the growing local resistance to the fencing initiative, which they argue could divide ancestral territories and disrupt the trans-border social and cultural ties shared between families and villages on both sides of the international boundary.
